Handheld electronic device using status awareness

ABSTRACT

Through status awareness, a handheld communications device may determine the location, activity, and/or physical or emotional state of the user. This information may in turn be used for various purposes, such as 1) determining how to alert the user of an incoming communication, 2) determining what format to use for communicating with the user, and 3) determining how to present the user&#39;s status to another person&#39;s communication device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/376,624, filed on Dec. 7, 2011, which claims priority toInternational application PCT/US2010/037946, filed on Jun. 9, 2010,which claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application No.61/187,520, filed on Jun. 16, 2009, and priority is claimed thereof.

BACKGROUND

Handheld electronic communications devices have a number of shortcomingFor instance, the method of alerting the user of an incomingcommunication may not be appropriate for the user's situation, and theuser may forget to set it for that situation. For example, a ringingcell phone would be inappropriate in a movie theater, while a vibratingcell phone might be ineffective if it's in a purse. Further,communication may take place in several different forms (e.g., voice,text, graphics), and the preferred method may depend on the user'sstatus at the time. Another shortcoming is that people who wish tocommunicate with the user have no way of knowing what the user's statusis, and therefore have no way of knowing which method of communicationwould be best, or if communication should be delayed until another time.Conventional communications devices have no way to automatically makethese choices, because they have no way of determining the relevantinformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the invention may be understood by referring to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings that are used toillustrate embodiments of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a multi-function handheld user device for wirelesscommunications, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a method of performing status awareness,according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of a method of alerting a user of anincoming communication, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of a method of adapting the format of anincoming communication, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a matrix of selections presented on the device's display,according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show examples of a graphical depiction of a user's status,according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram of a method of notifying another person ofthe user's status, according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth.However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well-knowncircuits, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail inorder not to obscure an understanding of this description.

References to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “example embodiment”,“various embodiments”, etc., indicate that the embodiment(s) of theinvention so described may include particular features, structures, orcharacteristics, but not every embodiment necessarily includes theparticular features, structures, or characteristics. Further, someembodiments may have some, all, or none of the features described forother embodiments.

In the following description and claims, the terms “coupled” and“connected,” along with their derivatives, may be used. It should beunderstood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other.Rather, in particular embodiments, “connected” is used to indicate thattwo or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact witheach other. “Coupled” is used to indicate that two or more elementsco-operate or interact with each other, but they may or may not haveintervening physical or electrical components between them.

As used in the claims, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinaladjectives “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., to describe a commonelement, merely indicate that different instances of like elements arebeing referred to, and are not intended to imply that the elements sodescribed must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, inranking, or in any other manner.

Various embodiments of the invention may be implemented in one or anycombination of hardware, firmware, and software. The invention may alsobe implemented as instructions contained in or on a computer-readablemedium, which may be read and executed by one or more processors toenable performance of the operations described herein. Acomputer-readable medium may include any mechanism for storinginformation in a form readable by one or more computers. For example, acomputer-readable medium may include a tangible storage medium, such asbut not limited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM);magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; a flash memorydevice, etc.

The term “wireless” may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems,methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that communicatedata by using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solidmedium. A wireless device may comprise at least one antenna, at leastone radio, and at least one processor. The wireless device may alsocontain other components to provide various other types offunctionality.

In various portions of this document, the terms ‘situation’, ‘context’,and ‘status’, as well as derivatives of those terms, may be used. Withinthis document, these terms have specific meanings. ‘Situation’ pertainsto external conditions, that is, information gathered by the varioussensors in the device, or inferred about conditions external to thedevice based on those sensor inputs. Sensor inputs may includeinformation gathered through radio communication, a camera, amicrophone, motion and/or orientation sensors, a light sensor, atemperature sensor, etc. Those conditions might be affected by theuser's actions, but situational analysis in general does not considerthe user's actions directly, only the sensed inputs indicatingconditions external to the device. ‘Situational awareness’ involves ananalysis of situation to determine factors that may be useful.

‘Context’ has to do with one or more of: where the user is, what theuser is doing and/or is likely to do in the future, and the user'spreferences. This may include considerations of what the device is doing(the mode in which the device is operating, the applications being run,etc.). Context may also consider historical factors, such as pastactivities, reactions, and decisions previously made under similarconditions. Because user actions may sometimes include a considerationof environmental factors, situation and context may sometimes overlap.For example, monitoring of the user's physiological state (temperature,stress level, breathing, etc.) might be considered situation (conditionsexternal to the device) but would be also be considered context (whatthe user is or might be doing). ‘Context awareness’ involves an analysisof context to determine factors that may be useful.

The term ‘status’ consists of situation, context, or both. So statusawareness may consist of context awareness, situational awareness, orboth. In situational awareness, context awareness, and status awareness,the factors being considered may be limited to those factors that areconsidered relevant or potentially relevant. On the other hand, when noparticular results or type of information has been specified, allfactors may be considered potentially relevant, and in some embodimentsthe device may monitor and process many such factors on an ongoingbasis, even though there is no immediate need for them.

FIG. 1 shows a multi-function handheld user device for wirelesscommunications, according to an embodiment of the invention. Theillustrated device 110 is shown with various components, such as atouchscreen (a touch-sensitive display screen) 120 and buttons A, B, andC. Another input/output function 130 is also shown which, depending onthe embodiments, may provide various types of functionality, such as butnot limited to: 1) another button, 2) a camera lens, 3) a microphone, 4)etc. Other buttons, sensors, output devices, etc. may also be includedbut are not shown to avoid excessive clutter in the drawing.

Although the illustrated device 110 is depicted as having a particularshape, proportion, and appearance, with buttons located in particularlocations, this is for example only and the embodiments of the inventionmay not be limited to this particular physical configuration. Forexample, in some embodiments the buttons may have different sizes and/ordifferent shapes than shown, be located elsewhere on the same side or ondifferent sides of the device, etc. They may also come in differentcolors. In some embodiments the overall shape of the device 110 may bedifferent than shown. Device 110 may also include functionality forwireless communication, for various visual, audio, and physical inputs,and for various visual, audio, and physical outputs.

Status Analysis and Awareness

Much may be inferred about the user based on context awareness. Forexample, if the device is performing an interactive operation thatrequires the user's involvement (e.g., entering text, choosing a menuselection, taking pictures, scrolling through stored pictures, etc.) itmay be assumed the user is co-located with the device and isparticipating in that operation. If the device is transmitting andreceiving voice communications over a wireless interface, it may beassumed the user is engaged in a wireless voice communication, using thedevice as a phone. Many such activities that require the user's actionimply that the user is holding the device, and can be immediatelycontacted through the device.

Other contextual activities may imply the user's presence andinvolvement, but with a lesser degree of confidence. For example, if thedevice is playing music or video, it may be assumed the user is probablylistening or watching, but sometimes the user may step away from thedevice for a few minutes without pausing or shutting off the music orvideo. If the user transmitted an email a couple of minutes ago, theuser is probably still in possession of the device, but might have setit down and walked away. If the user has had no interaction with thedevice for a long time, then context awareness may provide littleevidence of what the user is doing. The longer the period of time thatelapses without a direct user input (press a button, touch thetouchscreen, speak into the microphone, etc.) the less likely it is thatthe user is still involved with the same operation, and the less likelyit is that the user is still co-located with the device.

Internal time and scheduling operations may also provide contextinformation. For example, a scheduling program combined with the currenttime/day/month/year from the device's internal clock and calendar mayindicate the user should be at a particular place and engaged in aparticular action. Of course, this alone does not indicate that the useris actually following his schedule, and more information might bedesirable for corroboration.

Situational awareness may be more complicated than context awareness, asthe effects of the environment on the user may be more ambiguous. Thedevice may have a number of sensors that permit it to determine what isgoing on external to the device. These sensors may include but are notlimited to things such as: 1) a microphone for audio inputs, 2) a camerato take pictures and/or video, 3) accelerometers or otherlocation/movement sensors that can provide information on orientation,movement, and/or location, 4) a temperature sensor to measuretemperature directly or indirectly, and 5) wireless communications,which can access vast amounts of information.

Each type of sensor may be directed to monitor the environment undervarious conditions, such as but not limited to: 1) when directlytriggered by the user (e.g., when the user takes a picture), 2) whenindirectly triggered by the user (e.g., when the user starts anotheroperation that in turn causes the sensor to begin operating), 3) whentriggered by the expiration of a timer, 4) at scheduled times/dates, 5)when triggered by another program, possibly based on inputs receivedfrom other sensors, 6) etc. Some sensors may operate full time, assumingtheir power consumption is not too great.

The inputs from each sensor may be processed in various ways to produceuseful information, and the type of processing may depend on what typeof useful information is being sought. For example, audio inputs may beprocessed to identify things such as but not limited to: 1) the wordsbeing spoken, 2) the identity of the person speaking, 3) identifiablebackground sounds, such as traffic noise, the murmur of a crowd, thetinkling of silverware in a restaurant, the roar of a jet engine, etc.,4) music, 5) sounds of nature, such as birds singing, flowing water,etc. Similarly, visual inputs from the camera may be processed toidentify things such as but not limited to: 1) a person, 2) the identityof the person (e.g., through facial recognition), 3) a type of business(e.g., from a well-known logo on the building), 4) whether objects inthe image are moving, 5) the ambient light level, 6) colors, 7) whetherthe device is in a city (e.g., tall buildings close together), a forest(e.g., tall trees close together), a suburban neighborhood (e.g., housesclose together), a bus (e.g., rows of seats close together in a smallspace), a sports stadium (e.g., thousands of seats arranged around anopen space), 8) etc.

Inputs from three accelerometers configured in a mutually perpendiculararrangement may be used to measure things such as but not limited to: 1)orientation of the device (e.g., by determining the component of gravitysensed by each one), 2) acceleration along all three axes, which may beconverted to velocity in three dimensions, which may in turn beconverted to positional change in three dimensions, 3) repetitiveup-and-down motion, which may imply walking or jogging, 4) etc.

Temperature may be analyzed to derive various types of information.Ambient air temperature may provided by a direct temperature sensor.However, it might be fooled by warmth from the user's hand when thedevice is being held. An infrared sensor may provide less ambiguousinformation, when directed towards a particular object. If the camerahas an infrared filter or sensor array, the resulting pictures may beanalyzed to determine the relative temperature differences of differentobjects in the picture, and could conceivably be used to convert thecamera into a night-vision infrared viewer.

Radio may be one of the most useful and versatile sensors on the device.Many types of devices communicate through radio signals, and theinformation in those signals may provide a great deal of informationabout user's surroundings. Incoming GPS signals, when analyzed by thedevice's GPS system, may pinpoint the device's location on earth withina very small area. Signals from an access point (AP), base station (BS),or wireless router indicate the device is within a known range of thatAP/BS/router, which may in turn indicate the user is at work, at home,at a local coffee shop, etc. The distinctive radio emissions from amicrowave oven may identify the location as a kitchen. Nearby RFID tagsmay also be detected through radio, and knowing the object to which anRFID tag is attached may provide useful information. In addition, someRFID tags may be connected to their own sensors, and may transmit thatsensor information to the device (e.g., temperature, humidity, lightlevels, etc.). For very broad location information, when more preciseinformation is not available, the reception of commercial broadcastsignals (e.g., television, AM radio, FM radio) may indicate locationwithin a particular region. Reception of several such signals may permittriangulation, to reduce the size of the possible location area. If thelocation of the broadcast towers is not known, the content of thebroadcast information (e.g., the language, the cities being mentioned,etc.) may help.

Radio communication may also be used to expand the databases that thedevice has access to. By using wireless access to the Internet, thedevice may obtain maps, directions, street addresses, aerialphotographs, types of establishments, etc. that are associated with thedevice's location.

Both context and situational awareness may be combined in various waysto analyze the user's location and activity, and even to anticipate theuser's needs. This anticipation may result in the device obtaininginformation that was not directly requested by the user, but which theuser might find useful. For example, if the user is requesting a list ofmovie theaters in his area, the device may also obtain a list of themovies being shown at each, and their starting times, in anticipationthat the user will subsequently be able to use that information.

The device may also use historical data to analyze the user's status. Ifa particular group of inputs in the past indicated a particular statuscondition for the user, those same inputs now may indicate the userprobably has the same status. This historical data may be used to helpdetermine current location, activity, and anticipated needs.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a method of performing status awareness,according to an embodiment of the invention. In the illustratedembodiment, at 210 the device gathers context information, while at 220the device gathers situation information. Examples of these two types ofinformation, and examples of the techniques for gathering them, havebeen discussed in some of the previous paragraphs. The operations of 210and 220 may each be performed according to various schedules: 1)continuously, 2) periodically, 3) when requested, 4) when specificinformation is needed, etc. In one embodiment, some types of informationmay be gathered on an ongoing basis, while other information will begathered only when it is deemed to be useful.

Since status awareness depends on both context and situationinformation, these two types of information may be combined at 230 andjointly analyzed at 240. Based on the results of the analysis, which mayinclude some probability analysis, at 250 the device may determine oneor more status conditions that are possible and even probable for thedevice's user. Again using probability analysis, a confidence factor maybe assigned to each of these status conditions, and at 270 the statuscondition with the largest confidence factor may be selected. In someembodiments, if none of the status conditions have a confidence factorthat exceeds a particular threshold value, then none of them will beselected

Status-Based Alerting Techniques

When a device receives an incoming communication, it may have severaldifferent techniques for notifying the user of that incomingcommunication. In some embodiments, a device may automatically choosefrom among those multiple techniques for alerting the user, based on theperceived status of the user. These alerting techniques may include anyfeasible alerting technique, such as but not limited to: 1) the devicemay produce an audible alert (e.g., several different types of rings orother sounds may be used to give the user more information about theincoming communication), 2) the device may produce a spoken voicethrough the device's speaker or through headphones, 3) the device mayvibrate, 4) one or more displays on the device may light up, flash,etc., 5) the display on the device may provide a visual alert, 6) thedevice may wirelessly transmit the alert to another device, essentiallyinstructing that other device to alert the user through a means that isavailable to that other device (for example, a video alert on the screenof a nearby television). Of course, any combination of these and/orother techniques may be used.

In addition, if the user does not respond to the alert within apredetermined time, the alert may become more noticeable in some way,such as but not limited to: 1) increased sound volume and/or thefrequency of that sound, 2) increased urgency in a spoken voice orringing sound, 3) brighter display, 4) different color of light, 5) morerapid occurrence of a flashing light or periodic sound, 6) etc. In someembodiments, the particular alerting technique may change, or multiplealerting techniques may be combined, in an effort to get the user tonotice and respond.

Whichever alerting techniques are available to the device, the devicemay choose from among multiple ones of those techniques based on theuser's status, as determined through status awareness. For example, someactivities indicate the user is interacting with the device in somemanner and can be notified in that same manner. If the device is playingmusic through connected headphones, it may assume the user might not belooking at the screen and might not be able to hear an external ringwith the headphones on, so it may present the alert as an audible signalthrough the headphones. Conversely, if a video is playing on thedevice's screen, or if the user is entering data through thetouchscreen, it may present a video alert on that touchscreen. If thedevice is using a remote system for output (e.g., a television or musicsystem), the device may use that system to generate the alert. These andmany other status-based considerations may be used by the device toautomatically select from among the possible alerting techniques.

Status awareness may be considered when determining which alertingtechnique to use. These are some examples:

-   -   i. Device Location—If the device determines it is in a        restaurant or theater, it may vibrate or ring softly. If in the        user's home, it may ring at full volume. If the device is in an        area that enforces restrictions on such devices (e.g., prohibits        all audible alerts) it may use only those techniques that are        permitted.    -   ii. Ambient Noise Levels—If the device senses it's in a quiet        environment, it may vibrate or ring softly. If it's in a noisy        environment, it may ring at a volume proportional to the noise        level.    -   iii. Time of Day—The device may vibrate during the day when it's        typically being worn on the user's belt, and ring at night when        it's typically resting on a night stand.    -   iv. User Presence—If the device determines it's in contact with        the user, based on temperature, motion, and/or an RFID tag the        user wears, it may vibrate. If it cannot detect the user's        immediate presence, it may ring.    -   v. Device Activity—If the device senses the user is reading        something on the touchscreen (because the user changes the        display frequently), it may alert the user by providing a visual        alert on the screen. If it senses the user is listening to music        through the device, it may override the music with an audible        alert.    -   vi. Calendared Priorities—When the user schedules his activities        on the device's calendar, the activities may be classified as to        priority, with each priority implying a different preference in        alerting techniques. During the time of the scheduled event, the        device may use the alerting technique associated with that        priority. For example, one level of priority (e.g., for        important business meetings, religious services, etc.) may        indicate that no alerts will be issued, and the user will have        to check for missed communications after the event. Another        level of priority (e.g., for less important business meetings,        anniversary dinner with spouse, etc.) may use an urgent alert        for calls from certain people (boss, doctor, child, baby        sitter), but use a softer alert or no alert for other incoming        communications. Still another level of priority may place no        restrictions on the alerts.

The user may manually change the automatically selected alertingtechnique after the alert has begun. The device may keep track of suchchanges over time, and select the user's preference for future alertsissued under similar circumstances.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of a method of alerting a user of anincoming communication in a manner based on status awareness, accordingto an embodiment of the invention. In the illustrated embodiment, at 310the device may determine the user's probable status (for example, byfollowing the method of FIG. 2). When an incoming communication isreceived by the device at 320, it may examine the various techniquesavailable to it for alerting the user of the incoming communication, andat 330 it may rank the acceptable ones from most desirable to leastdesirable, based on the user's status. This process may be performed invarious ways, for example by following the techniques described in theprevious paragraphs.

Based on this analysis, the device may use the highest ranked (mostdesirable) technique to alert the user of the incoming communication at340. If the user responds within a predefined time limit (e.g., byaccepting or proactively rejecting the communication as determined at350), this process may end at 370. But if the user does not respond, asdetermined at 350, the current alerting technique may be abandoned andthe next highest ranking alerting technique may be tried. This may be adifferent alerting technique (e.g., a flashing light instead of anaudible ring), or a more urgent version of the same alerting technique(e.g., a louder ring), or a combination of alerting techniques. Thedevice may work its way through the alerting techniques in this manneruntil the user responds, or until the ranked techniques have beenexhausted.

The flow diagram shows the current alerting technique being deleted fromthe ranking list at 360, so that the next highest ranking technique willbecome the highest ranking technique at 340. But this is just one ofmany detailed processes that may be used to progressively try the rankedalerting techniques. In some embodiments, the user may be able tooverride the current rankings by redefining them. In some embodiments,this override may be temporary (e.g., for a predetermined time) orpermanent (e.g., until changed again by the user).

Communication Format Adaptive to Recipient Status

Whenever a user receives an incoming communication on a communicationsdevice, the ability or willingness of the user to accept thatcommunication may depend on the user's status. It may also depend on theformat of the communication. For example, a user in a meeting may bewilling to accept a text message but not a voice call, while a user thatis driving a car may be willing to receive an email but unwilling toaccept an interactive communication such as a text message or voicecall. In addition, if the user is not able or willing to accept aparticular incoming communication in its current form, he may have apreference as to whether to notify the sender about alternatives. All ofthese things may depend on the user's status at the time thecommunication is received.

For the purposes of this document, the term ‘format’ indicates whetherthe communication is presented as: 1) interactive audio (e.g., voice),2) interactive text (e.g., a text message), 3) participatory graphics(e.g., the user must look at the screen), or 4) non-interactive text,voice, and/or graphics (e.g., email, voicemail, and/or stored graphics).In some embodiments, these major formats may be further subdivided intomore specific formats, with different rules for handling each one. Inaddition, in some embodiments multiple formats may be combined in asingle communication (e.g., interactive voice with non-interactivegraphics). In such a case, the communication may be categorized as oneformat for handling purposes, or each portion of the communication maybe treated separately for handling.

As previously described, the user's status may be monitored by thedevice through both context awareness and situation awareness. However,in this case the object of this monitoring is to decide what to do withan incoming communication rather than decide how to alert the user aboutthat communication, so the factors that are considered may be different,and the factors may be considered in different ways.

When an incoming communication is received, the device may do severalthings, such as but not limited to: 1) decide whether to alert the userimmediately, at a later time, or not at all, 2) convert thecommunication to a different format (e.g., convert interactive text tovoice, voice to interactive text, voice to email, email to voice, etc.)for presentation to the user, 3) transmit a response to the sender,notifying the sender that the user is currently unavailable forcommunications in this format, and possibly suggesting a differentformat that the user will accept at this time and/or informing thesender when the user will probably be accepting a communication in itscurrent form. Various actions may also be combined, such as converting avoice message to an email, informing the sender that the user will beavailable for voice communication at a particular time, and alerting theuser to these actions when the user's status permits such an alert.

In addition to the format of the communication, the priority of thecommunication may be considered when deciding how to handle it. An‘external priority’ may be assigned to a communication without regard tothe user's status, while an ‘internal priority’ may be assigned based onthe user's status. Both may be factors in deciding how the communicationis handled.

For external priorities, if the sender is aware of the priority scheme,any of various priority levels may be pre-coded into a communicationbefore it is transmitted to the user's device. Alternatively, the user'sdevice may decide which external priority should be assigned afterreceiving the communication. This decision may be based on variouscriteria, such as but not limited to: 1) the priority may depend on whothe sender is (e.g., the user's boss or the user's spouse may beassigned top priority, while a communication from an unknown sender maybe assigned a low priority), 2) the communication may be searched forkey words which will trigger a certain priority level (e.g., the words“cancelling your contract” might trigger a high priority), 3) whetherthere has been a recent history of communications with the sender, 4)the length of the communication (a long communication might be assigneda lower priority because it will require more of the user's time), 5)etc.

Internal priorities may depend on the user's status at the time thecommunication is received. This status may in turn depend on acombination of context and situation factors that may be considered whendetermining how to handle the incoming communication. These are someexamples:

-   -   i. Location and Time of Day—Many users have routines that may be        programmed into a device or learned by the device over time. For        example, a user may want to receive only high-priority messages        during working hours or while in the office. Further, if a        scheduling program shows the user in a meeting, all incoming        communications may be dropped to a lower internal priority. At        other times, various sensors may show the user is traveling        between home and work and is free to receive messages (if the        user rides public transportation), or doesn't want to receive        messages (if the user drives himself).    -   ii. Activity—A device's accelerometers may be able to detect        whether the user is vertical, horizontal, motionless, moving        slowly or rapidly, changing in speed/direction, etc. These        factors may be analyzed to determine if the user is most likely        lying down, sitting, standing, walking, running, or engaged in        vigorous physical activity such as playing tennis. This may in        turn be combined with other sensor information, such as GPS        coordinates, to determine if the user is commuting to/from work,        sitting at home or work, exercising, reading a book in a        library, etc.    -   iii. Background sounds—The device may monitor background sounds        to analyze the user's current status. For example, a moving car        or bus may produce identifiable road noise, and the surrounding        traffic sounds may also be identifiable. The sounds of        clattering plates, tinkling silverware, and the occasional use        of the words ‘menu’ and ‘refill’ may indicate a restaurant. When        such things are combined with GPS coordinates, the user's        location and activity may sometimes be identified with high        confidence.    -   iv. Device detached from the user—If the device is completely        motionless for an extended period of time, it may indicate the        user is not wearing or carrying it. The device may then try to        contact an alternative communications system that the user has        previously specified, based on the device's current location.        For instance, if the user is at work the device may try to send        a voice-version of the message to the user's office telephone.        If the device is near the user's home PC, it may transmit an        email version of the message to that PC. Or the device may        simply return a message to the sender that the user is away from        his primary communications device at this time.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of a method of adapting the format of anincoming communication, according to an embodiment of the invention. Inthe illustrated embodiment, at 410 the device may determine the user'sprobable status (for example, by following the method of FIG. 2). Basedon that information, at 420 the device may determine which communicationformats will be acceptable for the user to receive in his currentstatus. When a communication is received at 430, the device maydetermine at 440 if the format of that communication is one of theacceptable formats. If it is, the device may alert the user of theincoming communication at 460.

If the format of the incoming communication is not one of the acceptableformats, as determined at 440, the device may have multiple choices ofwhat to do next. One choice is to convert the communication to anacceptable format at 450, and then alert the user of it's presence at460. For example, if a voice call is received but the user is notaccepting any interactive communications, the device may use avoice-to-text conversion program to convert the voice message to text,store that text in a file, and then alert the user that a stored textmessage was just received.

Alternately, the device may simply reject the incoming communication inits present format at 470, and transmit a message to the sender at 480that the message was not accepted. In some embodiments, this message maybe in the same format as the received communication (e.g, voice for avoice call, text for a text message, etc.). In some embodiments, thismessage may suggest an alternate format that the sender can use thatwill be accepted by the user.

Graphical Depiction of User Status

The status of the device's user may be conveyed to at least one otherperson, in response to various stimuli, by wirelessly communicating thatinformation in a suitable format to the wireless device being operatedby the other person. For example, in some embodiments this communicationmay be presented in a graphical format that conveys information aboutthe user's status. In some embodiments this may be agraphically-generated avatar, indicating the location, activity,situation, devices in use, etc., that convey the user's status toanother person. In various embodiments, the avatar may be animated orstatic. Some examples may include, but are not limited to: 1) a figurewalking, running, sitting, standing, riding a bike, or riding in anautomobile, may indicate the user is performing that action, 2) thefigure's clothing (e.g., heavy coat or light T-shirt) may indicate thetemperature the user is experiencing, 3) a picture of the user holding acommunications device next to his ear may indicate the user is involvedin a voice call, 4) a picture of a figure in bed with his eyes closedmay indicate the user is asleep, 5) etc.

Other types of visual presentation may be used. Some examples mayinclude, but are not limited to: 1) a picture of dark clouds orlightning may indicate the user is outdoors and experiencing foulweather, 2) a picture taken with the device's camera may show the user'ssurroundings, 3) a depiction of a restaurant, library, athletic stadium,etc., may indicate the user is at that type of establishment, 4) atopographical map or aerial photograph (available online) may show theuser's location, 5) etc. Text information may also be included (such asan address and/or the name of the building or town) to provide moredetail.

The graphical depictions that are used (e.g., an avatar of the user,pictures of various surroundings, etc.) may come from various sources,such as but not limited to: 1) a catalogue of depictions that wereprovided with the device and/or downloaded to the device, 2) graphicsthat are generated by the device, 3) custom depictions that are createdby the user, 4) etc. In some embodiments, the user may select whichdepictions will be available for use. A selection process may be used toreduce all the available choices down to the few choices the user hasapproved for use.

FIG. 5 shows a matrix of selections presented on the device's display,according to an embodiment of the invention. In this example, the usermay select which of the available choices he wishes the device to choosefrom when the device is choosing how to show the user's status.Instructions for making the selection may be in a separate area, shownhere at the bottom of the device's display. A scrolling mechanism may beused to allow the user to scroll through the available choices. In someembodiments, different groups of selections may be defined by the user,and the group that is available at a particular time may depend onvarious factors, such as but not limited to the identify of the calleror requestor. In some embodiments, the currently active group may bemanually chosen by the user.

This graphical presentation may be transmitted in response to varioustriggers, such as but not limited to: 1) it may be sent at apre-determined time, based on an internal clock, 2) it may be sent atpredetermined intervals, based on expiration of a timer, 3) it'stransmission may be manually triggered by the user, 4) it may be sentwhen the user's condition changes according to certain predeterminedcriteria, 5) it may be sent to a caller in response to the user notanswering the call, 6) it may be sent in response to a caller requestingit, 7) etc.

The choice of intended recipient(s) for this information may depend onvarious factors, such as but not limited to: 1) the recipient(s) may bemanually chosen by the user or other authorized person (e.g., a persontraveling alone may want to periodically transmit their statusinformation to a close relative), 2) such information may be requestedby various people that wish to receive it (on a one-time basis or anongoing basis), provided they have been previously authorized by theuser, 3) the list of recipients may be based on the frequency of recentcommunications with those recipients, 4) the list of recipients may varyautomatically based on such things as the time of day, location of theuser, activities of the user, a pre-programmed schedule, etc., 5) anyonethat communicates with the user's device may be deemed an authorizedrecipient, 6) etc.

In another embodiment, FIG. 5 may depict the display of a device that isreceiving information on the situations of multiple other people. Inthis instance, each picture in the display may represent the status of aseparate person, each of whom has a separate device capable oftransmitting a message depicting the status of that particular person.As these status reports are received from these multiple other devices,the current device can collect them for simultaneous display. In someembodiments, the device will transmit a request for this statusinformation only when the user needs it. In other embodiments, thedevice may proactively request such status automatically, and save theinformation in case the user needs it. FIG. 5 shows one configurationfor such a display, but other configurations may be used instead. Insome embodiments, the user may specify the one or more people whosestatus is to be displayed, but in other embodiments the device mayautomatically make that choice, based on suitable criteria that has beenpreviously gathered or derived.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show examples of a graphical depiction of a user's status,according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 shows the useroperating a computer. FIG. 7 shows a user talking on a phone. In someembodiments, different depictions may be combined for the presentation.For example, a depiction of the user riding in a vehicle with the deviceagainst his ear, sitting next to an avatar of another person with theirhands on a steering wheel, may indicate the user is talking on his phonewhile riding as a passenger in a car that another person is driving.

In some embodiments, the graphical depiction may be retrieved orconstructed as a single-layered image. In other embodiments, thedepiction may be constructed from multiple layers. For example, thelower layer may depict the background scenery, the next layer above itmay depict a building sitting in that background, the next layer maydepict various types of people around that building, the next layer maydepict the user's avatar in front of those people, and the topmost layermay show the user's clothing and/or accessories.

When the recipient of such information receives this graphicalrepresentation, that recipient then has more information on which tobase various decisions, such as but not limited to: 1) whether to try tocontact the user, 2) what method to use when contacting the user, 3)whether to contact police if foul play is suspected, 4) etc.

In addition to depicting the user's location and/or activity, somepresentations may depict the user's emotional state and/or physicalstate. Voice analysis may be used to determine the user is happy, tired,sleepy, angry, hysterical, etc. The sound of snoring, combined with alack of motion, may indicate the user is asleep. Other such inputs maybe used to determine other emotional states and physical states. In someembodiments, the user may select an emotional or physical state that hewishes to be depicted, regardless of what the sensors indicate.

In addition to the above factors, the determination of the user's statusmay be influenced by past activities and/or known preferences. Forexample, up-and-down motion combined with a certain range of horizontalspeeds might be interpreted as horseback riding (if the user is an avidequestrian), mountain biking (if the user is an avid cyclist), orjogging (if the user is an avid runner).

Although the previous descriptions have all related to presenting theuser's status with a graphics image, in some embodiments the informationmay be presented either in text form or through an audible presentation.This allows the user status to be presented when the requestor's devicedoesn't have the capability for a graphics display, or when therequestor has selected a non-graphics mode of presentation (e.g., whenthe requestor is driving a car and doesn't want to be distracted by avisual presentation).

Regardless of the sources of information that are used, some of thefinal decisions about the user's status may be based on assumptions. Aconfidence factor may be assigned to each assumption, to certaincombinations of assumptions, and/or to the final result. In someembodiments, the result must have a confidence factor that is higherthan a pre-defined threshold before the associated graphical depictionwill be transmitted. In some embodiments, multiple possible results maybe determined, and the one with the highest confidence factor will beselected for transmission. In some other embodiments, multiplepresentations will be transmitted, with each showing a differentpossible status that has a high confidence factor.

FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram of a method of notifying another person ofthe user's status, according to an embodiment of the invention. In theillustrated embodiment, at 810 the device may determine the user'sprobable status (for example, by following the method of FIG. 2). Thedevice may then wait until a triggering event is detected at 820. Atriggering event is an event that triggers the device to transmit theuser's status to another person or device. After determining therecipient(s) that are to receive this information at 830, the device mayconstruct or select a graphical depiction of the user's status at 840.And at 850 the depiction may be transmitted to the recipient.

The format of the depiction may be based, at least partly, on thepresentation capabilities of the recipient device, if that informationis known. In some embodiments, the recipient may announce itscapabilities, or request a preferred format, before the depiction issent. If there are multiple recipients, the device may construct thedepiction in multiple formats, each destined for a different recipientor group of recipients.

The foregoing description is intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. Variations will occur to those of skill in the art. Thosevariations are intended to be included in the various embodiments of theinvention, which are limited only by the scope of the following claims.

1. An apparatus comprising a handheld personal wireless communicationdevice having a touchscreen, a processor, a memory, and a radio with areceiver and a transmitter, the device to: analyze a user's status basedon status awareness; create a presentation indicating the user's status;and transmit the presentation to an external device.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein said transmitting the presentation is in response todetermination of at least one condition selected from a list ofconditions consisting of: 1) an incoming request for communication withthe user; 2) an incoming request for the user's status; 3) apre-determined time of day; 4) expiration of a timer, 5) manualinitiation of the transmission; and 6) a pre-defined change of theuser's condition.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the presentationis in a graphics form to be displayed by the external device.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the presentation is to indicate at leastone factor selected from a list consisting of: 1) the user's activity;2) the user's location; 3) the user's emotional state; and 4) the user'sphysical state.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein contents of thepresentation are to be based at least partly on a condition selectedfrom a list of conditions consisting of: 1) the requestor's identity;and 2) a presentation capability of the external device.
 6. A method,comprising: analyzing a user's status based on status awareness;creating a presentation indicating the user's status; and transmittingthe presentation to an external device; wherein said analyzing,creating, and transmitting are performed by a handheld communicationsdevice.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the presentation is in agraphics format for display on the external device.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the graphics format displays an avatar of the user. 9.The method of claim 6, wherein said transmitting the presentation is inresponse to a determination of at least one condition selected from alist of conditions consisting of: 1) an incoming request forcommunication with the user; 2) an incoming request for the user'sstatus; 3) a pre-determined time of day; 4) expiration of a timer, 5)manual initiation of the transmission; and 6) a pre-defined change ofthe user's condition.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein thepresentation indicates at least one factor selected from a listconsisting of: 1) the user's activity; 2) the user's location; 3) theuser's emotional state; and 4) the user's physical state.
 11. The methodof claim 6, wherein contents of the presentation are based at leastpartly on a condition selected from a list of conditions consistingof: 1) the requestor's identity; and 2) a presentation capability of theexternal device.
 12. An article comprising a computer-readable storagemedium that contains instructions, which when executed by one or moreprocessors result in a device performing operations comprising:analyzing a user's status based on status awareness; creating apresentation indicating the user's status; and transmitting thepresentation to an external device; wherein said analyzing, creating,and transmitting are performed by a handheld communications device. 13.The article of claim 12, wherein the presentation is in a graphicsformat for display on the external device.
 14. The article of claim 13,wherein the graphics format includes an avatar of the user.
 15. Thearticle of claim 12, wherein the operation of transmitting thepresentation is in response to a determination of at least one conditionselected from a list of conditions consisting of: 1) an incoming requestfor communication with the user; 2) an incoming request for the user'sstatus; 3) a pre-determined time of day; 4) expiration of a timer, 5)manual initiation of the transmission; and 6) a pre-defined change ofthe user's condition.
 16. The article of claim 12, wherein thepresentation indicates at least one factor selected from a listconsisting of: 1) the user's activity; 2) the user's location; 3) theuser's emotional state; and 4) the user's physical state.
 17. Thearticle of claim 12, wherein contents of the presentation are based atleast partly on a condition selected from a list of conditionsconsisting of: 1) the requestor's identity; and 2) a presentationcapability of the external device.